On January 4, 1851, Zakarias Martin Taftezon (1821-1901), Swiss Ulrich Freund, and New Englander Clement W. "Charlie" Sumner file claims under the Donation Land Law at what will become the city of Oak...

On January 23, 1851, Bishop Augustin Magloire Alexandre (A. M. A.) Blanchet (1797-1887) consecrates as a Catholic cathedral a rustic missionary church on land adjacent to the Hudson's Bay Company's ...

On February 4, 1851, the Oregon Territorial Legislature forms the new Pacific County. The county starts quite small and will soon increase in size. The county seat begins in Pacific City, near what i...

On April 24, 1851, Alfred A. Plummer (1822-1883) and Charles Bachelder land on a beach at the mouth of Port Townsend, an extensive bay at the northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula in what is now J...

In July 1851, Francis A. Chenoweth (1819-1899), who moved west from Wisconsin in 1849 and settled near present day Bonneville Dam on the north side of the Columbia River, begins operating what can be ...

On August 29, 1851, settlers of North Oregon convene a convention at Cowlitz Landing to form a separate territory. The attendees resolve that lawyer John Chapman should draft a memorial to Congress as...

On September 25, 1851, David Denny (1832-1903), John Low (1820-1888), and Lee Terry (1818-1862) arrive in a vessel commanded by Capt. Robert C. Fay at the mouth of the Duwamish River in the future Kin...

On September 27, 1851, the Collins party encounters Denny party scouts at Duwamish Head. These two groups will be the first non-Indian settlers of the Seattle area. David Denny (1832-1903), John Low (...